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To: trouthead who wrote (75343)	8/24/1999 10:13:00 PM
From: Libbyt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

<OT>...again... "I am going to pay $15,000 in agents fees. This is inflating the cost of my house." If you are paying this cost, then you chose to list your home with a broker. You do have the choice to sell FSBO (for sale by owner). If that is the case, then you get to answer constant phone calls and questions about your home from people who may not be qualified to buy your home. You need to advertise your home for sale. You need to find some way to find a qualified buyer. If you do find a qualified buyer, then you need to follow up on all of the details of escrow that can cause a transaction to fall apart. You need to have full disclosure of any problems with your home to protect yourself from a future lawsuit. >I could easily pay a lawyer a 3rd of that and protect myself better than any agent. The escrow company takes care of dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's and the loan comapny is going to make sure the house is worth the money and that the buyers can afford it.< Again....that's your choice. Most people find it is not quite as simple as you've stated. As someone stated, most brokerage companies split their commission with the other agency. Often they list your property on Multiple Listing...and the commission is stated in this book. This listing is usually available to all of the agents in your area...so by listing with one agent, you really have hundreds of agents trying to sell your property. It is a personal choice....I would rather pay to not have to worry about all of the problems involved with selling a home! Libbyt

To: trouthead who wrote (75343)	8/24/1999 10:26:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

*OT* Syphilis outbreak traced to Internet chat room SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Health officials tracking an outbreak of syphilis cases have followed the virus into cyberspace, identifying an Internet chat room as ground zero for infection. Jeffrey Klausner, director of the sexually transmitted disease unit at the San Francisco Department of Health, said investigators quizzing the last seven homosexual men reporting syphilis infections were surprised to find that all seven found their most recent sexual contacts through a chat room on America Online <AOL.N> : SFM4M, or San Francisco Men-For-Men. The outbreak rang alarm bells for Klausner, who noted that venereal diseases like syphilis can boost a person's vulnerability to HIV, the virus which causes AIDS. Clearly, the remaining visitors in the SFM4M needed to be warned -- but how to fight a cyberspace health threat in a chat room where anonymity is prized and people are known only by their on-line nicknames? "The challenge for us has been to contact, notify and inform individuals (when) we only have their Internet screen handles," Klausner said Monday. America Online declined to alter its privacy policy and reveal the identities of the chat room regulars, but it did put Klausner in touch with PlanetOut, an online gay and lesbian community. "The health department did contact us looking for advice on how to use the online medium to deal with this public health issue," said Rich D'Amato, an AOL spokesman. PlanetOut staff spent two weeks visiting the chat room and warning users about the outbreak, urging them to take syphilis tests and to practice safe sex. While the chatters' anonymity has been protected, officials hope they have got the message. Klausner said the experience has been an eye-opener, and that future public health campaigns would certainly take into account the growing role that the Internet plays in human relationships. "We've learned that Internet contacts are an important sexual network," he told the San Francisco Examiner Monday. REUTERS Rtr 18:35 08-23-99